Articles

HONDURAS – When 7-year-old Angie came down with severe illness, her mother worried that she might not survive. The intense vomiting and diarrhea could be a lethal combination for children in their remote mountain village in Honduras.

IQUITOS, Peru – For the past few years, seven-year-old Cristian and his mom Miguelina would have to leave their home in Iquitos during the rainy season and relocate to a higher elevation.

Their home, which was in extremely poor condition and had several holes in the roof, was unlike most homes in their village—sitting only four feet off the ground. This was not high enough to protect them from the flood waters that sometimes reached over nine and a half feet, forcing them to spend months living away from home in the only other shelter they had—a small tent.

TERRE FROIDE, Haiti – Michana sat on the side of the road in a small Haitian village crying, scared and not sure what to do next. She and her 9-month-old son had just been deported from the Dominican Republic (DR) and she had nowhere to go and no one to turn to.

KATHMANDU, Nepal – There are now more than 100 camps in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu that are home to thousands of earthquake victims. With many coming from destroyed mountainside villages to the large city—some even traveling over two weeks on foot to get there—the number of families moving into these makeshift camps continues to grow while conditions worsen.

TURKEY – To Bashar and his wife, Marlin, it seems like a lifetime ago that they were peacefully living in Iraq—he worked hard as an English teacher, and they were invested in raising their three children.

But when militant ISIS forces took control of Mosul last year, they were threatened. They would be forced to convert to Islam or be killed.

“Christianity, my religion, respects all other ones,” Bashar said, “but these guys (ISIS), they don’t. They started recognizing us because of our names.”

The couple changed their names in an attempt to protect their family, but it was impossible to continue living in Mosul without being forced to denounce their beliefs.

So Bashar and Marlin fled to Turkey with their children. There they remain, safe but in tenuous circumstances as they await the next step.

“I can’t go back to Iraq,” Bashar said. He wants the best possible futures for his little girls, so they wait for approval to move to a safer country. But the law does not allow him to work meanwhile, so he is unable to earn an income to provide for his children.

Operation Blessing is aiding ISIS victims in Turkey by providing much-needed resources such as food, hygiene supplies, medicine and more. OBI teams also started a feeding program for refugee children up to 12 years old who are attending a makeshift school run by refugee volunteers. Teams even provided school supplies so these children can continue their educations.

Thanks to Operation Blessing partners stepping in to fill the gaps, refugees like Bashar have the supplies they need to take care of their families while they transition into their new lives, away from the threat of ISIS.

IQUITOS, Peru – As a single mother in Peru, Maria worked hard to provide and care for her two children, but with a house on the verge of collapse that offered little protection from the wind and rain, she and her children lived in fear and little two-year-old Natalia, was often sick from the cold and wet condition of their home during the rainy season.

GEORGIA – Christie worked hard at her full-time job as manager for a family-owned restaurant, but after her divorce, it was simply not enough income to provide for her nine-year-old daughter, Marli, and 68-year-old father, Phillip, who was very ill.

THAILAND – Jeom and his neighbors would often wish for rain, hoping enough would collect in the gutters and containers they set out to provide drinking water for their families. Other than rainwater, the only water sources available to the small village were a few shallow wells.

KATHMANDU, Nepal – In Nepal, the rains have begun, indicating the start of the monsoon season. For families now living in makeshift tents after the devastating earthquake earlier this year, life has suddenly gotten much more difficult.